Decisions
by tamba243
Summary: With great power comes great responsibility. The species that created that phrase tend to forget it, so how can a creature only a few years old understand?


The climactic scenes of Mewtwo Returns told…well, better. Though I admit I haven't seen the Japanese version. I do not own Pokémon.

Author's note: I avoid using the word "Pokémon" to appeal to a broader audience as well as give myself a challenge. Mewtwo is also referred to as "it" since that's what he/it is called in the movie. Contains torture and brief language.

Decisions

The clear morning sky stained the lake's surface a pale, tranquil blue, belying the events unfolding on the rocky island in its center. The throbbing beat of helicopter blades cut discordantly through the crisp mountain air. The low roar of an animal echoed across the water.

A strange, mismatched flock stood clustered on the north beach of the island. There were a great diversity of mammals, a large, magnificently crested bird, a monstrous dragon-like fish and a massive chelonian. A young blond woman stood a short distance away from the congregation of beasts, clutching a scaly blue kit, which struggled feebly in her grip. Black and gray aircraft were perched in myriad locations on the island like enormous buzzards. All eyes were on a tall white animal at the head of the flock.

This creature was clearly the leader of the group, as it stood facing the young woman with the others gathered behind it. It was a large, vaguely feline creature, standing on two muscular hind legs and waving its long purple tail in agitation. It had long, slender arms ending in three-fingered paws and a large, round head. There was a strange arch of flesh extending from the back of its skull to its upper back between the shoulder blades. Its large violet eyes were stony as it surveyed the girl.

_Release that young one._

The creature's small mouth did not move, yet the deep, forbidding male voice was clearly audible. The young woman was, she hated to admit it, rather intimidated by the nearly seven-foot tall beast glaring down its muzzle at her. It could kill her, instantaneously. She was relieved when the beating whir of an aircraft was heard from over the cliff's edge.

"Maybe that's something you should take up with my boss." She said in a newly confident voice as the creature turned its head toward the noise. "Here he is now." The flock of animals scattered slightly in alarm, though still remaining close to their leader. Gusts of airborne sand scattered in all directions as another large black military aircraft came into view, its twin blades whirring.

The tilt rotor lowered itself into a sustained hover and a hatch opened in the roof to reveal a smug, brutal-looking man in an unattractive orange dress suit. A large buff-colored cat sat next to him. He enjoyed hearing himself speak, but it still required an effort to make himself heard over the whirring blades. "Nice to see you, Mewtwo!" he said to the white creature. "Have you changed your mind?"

_No. _The creature said, lashing its tail faster. _I would sooner die than serve you. _Its cold anger was beginning to grow fiery, yet it would not kill. It did not like that power, now that it had seen what life had to offer. Yet it would be a living hell to again be the slavish weapon of the organization devoted to abusing and exploiting any being capable of feeling pain. It was unsure what it should do. This feeling of confused ineffectualness was beginning to unnerve it greatly. It was not being a good leader to the others, it knew that.

The man had expected this. "It's a shame, then, that the other half of your pack in our custody will be ending up on our vivisection tables." He knew that the creature was capable of annihilating the entire plateau, yet he knew that it still was lacking in certain areas; namely the ability to think under pressure. It was not used to making decisions that could result in harm to another. The fact that it had not yet tried to kill him or anyone else told him that its temperament had changed significantly since it had escaped. Giovanni highly doubted it had been exposed to the concept of extortion before. It was a potentially deadly gamble to make, and one that hinged solely on the degree of the creature's naiveté. But this creature had cost billions, and furthermore, it was _his._

The creature would not flee. It lacked a flight instinct, a behavioral quirk that Dr. Fuji had explained to him over two years ago as a consequence of the neurological engineering. It was almost pathetic to see the former killing machine refusing to follow its purpose and trying now to cope with the situation in unfamiliar ways. It had never faced a responsibility like this one.

The white creature stood motionless and expressionless, watching as a pair of rounded machines, one red and the other blue, floated with a magnetic whirr from behind a large stone outcrop. Rectangular metal horns jutted from their sides. The glass lenses in their centers angled towards the animal.

Suddenly, all the other creatures gathered around their leader backed away from it and the machines. Ears flattened, heads and tails lowered. It had commanded them, and they dared not disobey. The man smiled. Stupid beast. The two machines touched the ground and faced each other. The small steel bolts around the lenses began to discharge electricity, which the lenses focused outward. The horns caused the two electric discharges to coalesce into a central field, forming a faint bluish sphere large enough to engulf several men.

"It's not meant to kill you. It's been developed to simply…mould your will to my purposes."

Mewtwo's eyes widened slightly at the ominous phrase. _Your…purposes._

Suddenly the young woman spoke up. She had regained her confidence since the arrival of reinforcements and now wanted to assert herself. It was an animal, just a freak animal. Shifting the now-resigned kit to her left arm, she reached for her stunner. "Don't waste your time destroying them. We're quite capable of bringing in new ones. Try to attack us and your little friends will be the ones to pay the price." She aimed the stunner at a small yellow rodentlike creature and fired. The bolt caught it in the chest, shocking and paralyzing it. A second rodent, practically identical to the victim, ran to its side with a frightened squeak. The second shot knocked them both against a rock, where they landed in a dazed tangle of golden fur.

Mewtwo wanted to kill her. All it would take was a simple thought and- No, no, it would _not _do that. As satisfying as it would be to see her a corpse, life was too valuable to waste, even on vermin like this. Still it stood motionless, quivering slightly, its tail whipping the air. It could not betray the flock. They were its responsibility, its creations, the closest things it would ever have to offspring. A curt voice spoke from above, as though instructing a stubborn pupil how to carry out a simple equation.

"All you have to do is step into the light."

Battling furiously with itself but outwardly calm, the white creature raised a long two-toed foot and took a step toward the machines. Then a second. A third. Its eyes were still cold and fixed, betraying no emotion. It hardly understood what it was doing. The flock began to protest. Roars, yelps, squawks and rumbles mingled with the whirring of the tilt rotor, but none of the creatures dared to step in front of their leader. On elegant tiptoe, the creature walked unflinchingly into the bluish orb. There was a faint humming noise, but nothing seemed to happen. The flock watched their now-confined leader fearfully as it stood impassively in the sphere.

The orange-clad man grinned widely. "That's a good boy. You won't run away from me again."

Mewtwo felt the familiar sensation of floating as the machines directed the sphere into the air, about twenty feet off the sand. A small sliver of fear was beginning to creep into its mind. What had it just done? _Why _had it just done that? Giovanni was a foul creature, and no doubt he had been scheming for months on a device designed to capture and subdue it. But it must not show submissiveness.

_You will never control me._

Giovanni's grin held.

"We'll soon see."

Giovanni pressed a button on a keypad, signaling the machines to proceed to the next stage. The orb changed from bluish to pink, and a snapping sound was heard from the steel bolts.

_ AAAAAAAAAARRGHH!_

A strangled grunt escaped the creature's throat in shock as spear-like bolts of pinkish electricity stabbed through its tail, stomach, wrists and shoulders. The electric stimulation made its muscles contract, pulling its legs and tail down and its arms out. The creature had seldom experienced acute physical pain, and now…

The creature concentrated on trying to break the sphere, but the machines seemed to react to this and mercilessly intensified the voltage. Mewtwo's lips curled back, revealing its blunt teeth. It shut its eyes tightly, quivering. This horrible sensation…stabbing, burning, twisting…how was it possible? Twenty feet below, the rest of the flock was scattering, racing back and forth along the beach in panic as black-clad men and women began to appear from around the sides of the cliffs. Giovanni's voice came again, still audible over Mewtwo's mental cries. "You are strong, Mewtwo, but pain makes the body master of the will. Let's see how long they struggle."

Over the crackling and snapping of electricity and through the deepening fog of agony the white creature could hear Giovanni rambling something about "a pretty little hideaway" and "laboratory". He…he couldn't mean to…Then a particularly brutal stab hit it under the shoulder blade and it shuddered, its head falling forward onto its chest.

On the ground, Team Rocket grunts were rounding up the panicked animals. One, a canine with nine long silky tails, was snarling and obviously preparing to fight, flaring its tails threateningly over its back. Mewtwo opened one violet eye when it heard men shouting. It knew exactly what was going on.

_Go!_

The canine cringed and ran to join the others. The flock was being herded into the cave leading to the lower holding chamber. They would be kept there, but the humans would not hurt them until their fighting abilities had been thoroughly evaluated. With this reassuring thought, the white creature closed its eyes again and stayed still, unable to stop itself from moaning. Giovanni hurled a few more taunts at it, and then seemed to grow bored with the proceedings.

Eventually the aircraft went away, leaving Mewtwo alone. The creature was glad, for it did not want any being to see it in this wretched state, least of all _him_. The sun rose steadily in the sky. Mewtwo's short fur began to singe at the points of penetration, but it did not move. Its muscles were beginning to cramp from the involuntary tension, but it couldn't shift its position an inch… It focused intently on its body, and the burning ache in its limbs faded, leaving the bolts as the sole source of pain. It could not do this indefinitely.

As time passed, it began to notice another sensation beneath the pain. It was unfamiliar, rather like fatigue, and the creature couldn't think of a term for it. As minutes stretched into hours, however, it found some form of distraction in searching for an adequate word…_Keep alert…Focus…_

_Weakness._ That was it. How paradoxical! It was quite severe now, to the point where Mewtwo was having difficulty raising its head or keeping its heavy tail from hanging. How could this be happening? The shocks alone could not be responsible for such a devastating drain on its strength. Obviously the machines were responsible somehow…could they actually be leeching away its powers?

An eternity later, it was afternoon. Mewtwo kept its eyes tightly shut, smelling its own fur burning, hearing more aircraft, men talking and machinery clanking and screeching somewhere in the background. How had such abominations arrived here so fast? What were they doing? It opened its eyes to see a yellow construction vehicle on the west bank.

Those bastards were building here, in this pristine place? Had they no regard for what lay in the island's heart? A shiver of rage swept through the creature's abused body, and it bared its teeth in a snarl, wishing it could sink them in Giovanni's throat. What was happening to the others? Where had Giovanni gone? Where were those young humans it had seen earlier? The questions swirled in Mewtwo's head, keeping the pain-fog at bay, at least temporarily. The electric bolts were like hot daggers lodged in its flesh…..eating into its body…they wouldn't stop! Its body screamed at it to pay attention, focus utterly on the pain, but it had to beat it back and keep thinking, counting the number of trees on the distant shore, studying and remembering the faces of each human it spotted so it could kill and mutilate every one of them in its mind, over and over.

As the sun began its descent towards the horizon, the bolts slowly began to burn into the creature's skin and muscle through the singed fur. Eventually the damage would reach its internal organs. It couldn't prevent itself from mentally and vocally grunting and crying out, retching occasionally, actually vomiting at one point. It stayed still, listening to its breath wheeze through its flared nostrils. It heard a fierce droning of agitated insects around the island, disturbed by the construction, but it didn't bother to open its eyes this time. It was very thirsty.

A human in its position would have died hours ago from shock or heart failure. Literally designed for toughness, the creature was using every ounce of its endurance, pacing the use of its Recover ability at increasing time intervals. It couldn't last forever, though. Its senses were starting to dull, and the pain was beginning to feel oddly detached, as though a layer of nerveless flesh was building up around its body. Mewtwo understood that it was beginning to go into shock. It would have to end it soon.

Pain, Giovanni had said. Mewtwo recalled those terrible months in the heavy armor, in cold, dark isolation and detachment. Its purpose had been ultimately revealed to inflict this very thing upon others. Giovanni wanted it to give other living things pain. And it had obeyed, learned to enjoy watching its countless opponents- no, _victims-_ scream, contort, crumple. When it had finally fled Giovanni it had continued to hurt and kill, having been trained since "birth" for just that.

Except it could have chosen not to.

Perhaps this was comeuppance for what it had done a year ago at New Island, the numerous lives it had taken even before that. Maybe it deserved this pain…No. Giovanni was not a harbinger of justice, just a typical selfish human viewing everything as a potential possession. Oh, how it hated him! It would_ not_ show any hint of submission to him, if it was stuck in here forever!

Suddenly a shrill squeak from below broke into its thoughts, and it turned its head to see the three young humans, the little Meowth cat and its clone, and the two yellow Pikachu, who appeared much recovered. Mewtwo was vastly relieved to see them still safe. It understood the rodent's squeak, for its telepathy was understandable by all species.

"Mewtwo!" the Pikachu clone squeaked.

_I am glad…you are safe._

"We're fine!"

_But I cannot bear this…much longer._

"Mew…2?" One of the juvenile humans said as he looked up at the suffering creature.

_How do you know my name?_

"We heard it from Meowth. And Meowth said that you saved my Pikachu. There's gotta be something we can do to help you now."

_Stop...these machines._

The young humans inspected the two machines supplying the electricity.

"Maybe there's a cutoff switch."

"It's no use! They're all sealed up!"

The boy who had spoken earlier began to ram his shoulder into the red machine, trying to knock it over. The other two humans and the four creatures joined in, forcefully slamming into the metal. After a minute or so, with one combined shove, the machine toppled. The lens, however, rotated in its socket, maintaining the view of its victim.

"We can't stop it!" The oldest boy shouted up at Mewtwo, frustrated.

The creature had been dreading this moment, but it kept itself calm. It twisted its head to look down at the humans, its gaze still stony, betraying none of its desperation.

_ Then I must use what remains of my power. Either these machines will be destroyed…or I will be._

Mewtwo believed it understood now. The machines were somehow harnessing its own powers as the energy source for the bolts. The more it energy it used trying to resist, the more was delivered back into its body as the punishing electricity. If an intense burst of concentrated energy was released all at once, however, Mewtwo believed there was a chance that the machines could overload. They would attempt to compensate by discharging their maximum amount of electricity as a consequence. Its body would be devastated.

There was never any doubt in the creature's unforgiving mind whether or not to make the attempt. While it was badly weakened, it was still a formidable force. Freedom- whether through death or through escape- would be the outcome. It strained its head back until its bony ears were perpendicular to the ground, focused on the machines and released all the mental power its dazed brain had left.

The steel bolts around the lenses immediately began to glow red-hot. The creature's cold violet eyes rolled back into its skull, its mouth gaped grotesquely, and its body began to vibrate violently. All thought vanished under a red-black-white sheet. There was a loud noise in its head….

The humans shouted encouragement, but the words fell on deaf ears. The view of Mewtwo's form distorted strangely as its mental energy clashed with the electricity surrounding it. Over Mewtwo's awful shrieking, the youngest human, Ash by name, called out to the two yellow creatures. "You two, help it out!"

The two rodents squealed and released crackling jets of electricity at the toppled red machine. They couldn't bear the screaming.

There was a small explosion as the red machine shattered and the orb dissipated. The cries of the creature inside faded as well. Mewtwo didn't realize it was falling until it slammed jaw first into the soiled sand, landing in a dusty, quivering heap. The blue machine, unable to function without its counterpart, hummed and exploded as the unreleased electricity overwhelmed its circuits. A piece of shrapnel grazed Mewtwo's haunch, but it did not move.

The excruciating pain was fading, giving way to a sort of dull sleepiness. The ground seemed to be continuously falling away underneath it, a strange sensation. It lay face down, breathing in the scent of the dry earth and fighting to remain conscious. Its jaw throbbed with pain. Foam matted the fur on its chin and throat. It tried to concentrate, heal itself one more time. It couldn't…

The group quickly gathered around it. Shaking, it opened glazed eyes. The three humans and four creatures were looking at it with concern, something Mewtwo had never seen on a human face before. But its vision was so hazy; maybe it was just an illusion. Ash, the youngest, was speaking.

"You did it, you beat 'em!"

.._Yes… _came the faint reply. _But I have also destroyed….myself._

"Nooo!" the two yellow creatures squeaked. They darted forward and seized Mewtwo's limp front paws, tugging with all their might. "Mewtwo! The spring!"

The Meowth translated this for the humans, who appeared to agree. Mewtwo closed its eyes in resignation as two pairs of human arms were looped around its chest, lifting its front half off the ground. It could hear numerous more footsteps approaching. Mewtwo knew it was _them. _In its present state it wouldn't be able to lift a paw to defend itself. It was helpless, an ignominious state, perverse for a being like itself. All it could do was cling to the hope that perhaps this trio would oppose Giovanni in its stead. As if they had even the slightest chance. The others…where were the others? Were they all right?

Ash laboriously adjusted Mewtwo to provide as much support as possible, but it was proving extremely difficult. The creature weighed more than twice as much as himself. It struggled to get its feet underneath it, its breaths coming in sharp rasps. The others, meanwhile, had turned to face a veritable army of Team Rocket members, led by a smug Giovanni. The young woman (who had grown tired of the kit) stood next to him, her arms crossed and a smile on her face. They could do what they liked with the creature now.

"Mewtwo belongs to me, and I alone will be the one to decide whether it will survive or not." Giovanni said flatly, looking hungrily at his prize.

"Oh, no you don't!"

"We won't let you!"

The four creatures and other two humans gathered in front of Ash and Mewtwo. As the other two young humans reached for their belts, roars were heard from the east bank. The flock had escaped the chamber, rallied and was now racing toward the scene.

They were enraged. Mewtwo's agonized cries had been audible to every being on the island, and they were set on defending their fallen alpha. Giovanni turned in surprise to see several dozen growling, bristling beasts in front of the frightened grunts. The monstrous fish and a large white pinniped burst from the surface of the lake with bellows of rage. An immense swarm of furious insects hovered in the air over the lake, their glinting eyes on the humans in black.

Ash seized the opportunity and slowly began to assist the staggering Mewtwo towards the large cave mouth in the west bank. A wall of angry beasts now separated Giovanni and his cronies from their target, and Ash did his best to hurry. The injured creature was well aware of the danger it was in, but its body would not obey its firm commands to stand and defend the others. The best it could do was blindly move its feet forward, while resting almost all of its weight on the human.

"Mewtwo." Ash panted. They were now out of sight behind the cave wall, on the narrow pathway by the lake inlet. "Try and walk a little farther, okay?" He was already tired from holding it up.

_I…cannot..._

Ash was soon forced to lay the huge animal down as it collapsed completely. It lay motionless on its side, its eyes shut and its flanks heaving. The small, charred patches adorning its body made Ash wince to look at. A line of blood stained its sweat-matted fur where the piece of metal had sliced through the skin. A long winding stone staircase stood before them, leading to the island's heart. Quickly Ash reached for two of the red-and-white metal balls attached to his belt.

Mewtwo lay where it had been placed. It almost didn't care what happened now, it was so exhausted. Its muscles ached fiercely, burning dully under the skin. Was this what its victims had felt like? The human was speaking. Dazedly it felt several waxy tendrils snake themselves around its midriff. Opening its eyes, it saw two small plant-creatures, a Chikorita and a familiar Bulbasaur, obviously belonging to Ash, winding their vines around it and valiantly trying to pull it back on its feet.

"We can do this, Mewtwo." Ash said, kneeling down and placing its left arm over his shoulders. With the three of them assisting, Mewtwo managed to shakily lift itself back on its feet, but the most difficult task was ahead. The noise from around the corner was appalling, but decreasing in proximity. Giovanni's forces seemed to be backing away toward the east bank, they way they had come.

They began to climb the stairs. Mewtwo forced its feet to move, knowing that the others were still in danger. The two plant-creatures followed behind, holding it upright with all the strength in their sturdy little bodies. Ash kept climbing. He felt…weird, helping this strange, half-dead creature that was likely smarter than he was. But he kept going, breathing in the faint, acrid odor of the burned fur, feeling the huge head on his shoulder. Bloodstained saliva was soaking into his shirt, but he ignored it.

Even in its foggy state Mewtwo was deeply confused by this human's altruistic behavior. It seemed a sharp contrast to his species.

_Why…why are you helping me?_

"Well, for one thing, you saved my Pikachu. That's a good reason." Ash recognized that Mewtwo wasn't used to kindness from humans. It should at least learn that not all humans were like Giovanni if…if the spring wasn't enough to save it. He had faith in the mysterious pool, though, after what it had done for his Pikachu.

_ The only one?_

"Do you always need a reason to help somebody?"

This struck Mewtwo as a very strange statement, but it knew that this young male was…different than the other humans. It could easily recall the events of a year ago.

_Perhaps you are unique…a unique human…one of a kind…_

They had reached the top of the stairs, but Ash kept walking. There was no time to lose. Giovanni would scour the island for Mewtwo until he found it, and Mewtwo itself was in no condition to prevent that. It was shaking from the exertion of climbing the stairs.

"You're one of a kind, too. Everybody is."

_Heh…I do not know what I am. And soon…it may not matter._

Mewtwo wished it were alone. If it was destined to die, it should not be in view of others, let alone humans. It wanted to retreat into a small dark crevice, curl up with its tail over its face and wait for the end of its short, meaningless life.

They made their slow, halting way across the meadow to the bank. The spring gleamed dully in the evening light. Luna and Cullen were nearby, and they ran to meet Ash, puzzled at the strange tableau.

"Ash!"

"What is that?"

They were at the water's edge, and Ash stopped, panting. The two adults were baffled at the odd sight of Ash and two of his creatures supporting a huge, semi-conscious, dangerous-looking animal. Cullen was rather concerned about what Ash was planning to do with the thing. He had a fairly good idea, and this spring was much too valuable to have its water quality risked by immersing some unknown beast in it, let alone one stained with blood and vomit and who knew what else.

"This is Mewtwo." Ash said once he had caught his breath. "It's real weak, and it needs to get into that spring water fast, or it's not gonna make it." He could hear the whirring of Giovanni's aircraft. They were out in the open, fully visible from the air. Mewtwo's white fur stood out against the grass.

"Ash, wait, you can't get that creature in the water, it might contaminate the spring. This water has minerals humans need!"

Mewtwo shut its eyes, cringing at the harsh words. This human…he was most definitely of the same mindset as the majority of his species. Ash felt Mewtwo flinch, and became angry. The beating whir of the tilt rotor was growing louder, and would undoubtedly clear the cliffs any second.

"I'm sorry, but the one who needs that water most right now is Mewtwo!" Ash half-shouted at Cullen. Aided by adrenaline and anger, he and the two plant-creatures heaved mightily, tossing the unprotesting Mewtwo into the deep pool. Just as the huge splash vanished, the tilt rotor roared into sight.

The water was bitterly cold, and the creature felt itself sinking. It was not concerned. Drowning was a better option than being found by Giovanni. Nevertheless, it held its breath. The icy water was soothing on its burns. It opened its parched mouth and let the relief flood in.

As it sank, Mewtwo gradually felt itself growing, oddly, more alert. It noticed the whitish weed swaying gracefully on the rocky slopes and the thin streams of carbon dioxide bubbles rising up from the depths of the mountain. It…it _knew _this place. It had been here before. How strange… just like its first dream. It opened its eyes a bit and gazed into the cold expanse, wondering if it was dying. A small shape flickered across its view.

_Mew? _

The little creature vanished as soon as Mewtwo thought this. Had it truly been there, or been a simple mental projection? Most likely the latter, all things considered. It felt as though it were entering a strange limbo between subjective and objective. Perhaps the spring did not look like this at all.

Suddenly it noticed that, despite the pressure building in its lungs and ears, it felt stronger. The sharp pain in its jaw and haunch were fading. Mewtwo had understood that this spring's water had unusual revitalizing properties, but it had never thought it would affect it the same way as normal beings. It was confused. How could it be structurally the same as natural-born species if its genetic makeup was a mosaic?

Its body may have been crafted by man, it realized, but the source material had undoubtedly come from Mew, a natural living being. Nature still lingered in its genes, despite any modifications. Had that what that glimpse of Mew been about? An unconscious reminder?

It could dwell on that later. The need for oxygen was growing, and Mewtwo began to move its limbs, noticing its muscles were revitalized. As it kicked its way up from the depths, it sensed vibrations from an aircraft, disturbingly close to the water's surface. It was _him_. The familiar fury rose in the creature's being, and its light-blue aura began to emanate around as it made towards the surface, beginning to glide rather than use its muscles. Within seconds Mewtwo had burst from the water's surface, eyes blazing.

The blast of spray and air sent the tilt rotor shuddering backwards, a startled Giovanni turning his head to see Mewtwo hovering beside the aircraft, a brilliant blue-white flame of energy flaring around its body. It lashed its dripping tail furiously at the sight of the man right in the heart of the island, hovering in his loathsome roaring machine directly over the pool that had saved it. Invigorated by the sight as well as its newfound strength, Mewtwo spoke, its deep voice echoing in the heads of every living thing on the island.

_You will not defile this place. It does not belong to you. Any more than _I _do!_

It knew what to do now. That awful sense of mental paralysis had gone the instant the pain had begun, and now it was free again, free to do what it should have done the moment it had seen those aircraft blinking ominously in the distance.

Mewtwo's view of Giovanni's surprised face was suddenly occluded by a sheet of blue. Mewtwo crossed its arms and snapped them out to its sides, sending forth a massive burst of white light_. _The light spread over every rock, every leaf like a bright film, growing, spreading, expanding out to engulf the entire island. It then extended further out, to cover the lake in a blue-white sheen. Every living creature within the several square-mile area froze in shock. The buzzing of the insects was drowned out by the eerie wail of power.

_This place has given me new life._ Mewtwo's voice came again, reverberating like thunder in everyone's skulls. _Now I will use my power to defend it._

The blue-white light emanating from the creature hovering motionless above the pool intensified until the very air became blindingly opaque. Every living thing but one felt the ground beneath their feet dissipate, then themselves. For many moments there was nothing but light.

Matter re-solidified, the light dimmed. Atoms reconfigured into rock, metal, water, soil, vegetation, insect, animal, human. Mewtwo altered their positions, molding the landscape as it desired, careful not to harm any individual. For all it had yet to learn, it thoroughly understood form and function, down to the very macromolecules of life and the relationships they had with their non-living counterparts. It was certainly tempted not to reconstitute Giovanni and his men, _properly_ anyway, but it decided against it. It had renounced its blood thirst long ago.

The light was gone, and the moon shone over the empty lakebed. Hundreds of bewildered men and women stood on the dust-dry silt, dazed, some unconscious. The aircraft lay scattered, confused.

Several hundred feet below, beneath thousands of tons of reconfigured rock, Mewtwo stood on the mossy bank of the vast lake, exhausted but not visibly so. The flock stood around it, staring in awe and fright at their strange surroundings. Moonlight filtered through cracks in the rock walls, illuminating the water's surface in eerie slivers. It was too dark for the others. Mewtwo's eyes glowed a soft blue, and an ethereal white light began to form at the rocky ceiling of the cavern as electrons were collected and agitated.

They would have to leave now. Though secure, the area was no longer a suitable habitat. Its journey would have to continue. Alone. The others did not deserve the danger that followed it. They could live their own lives. They could blend in with conspecifics, unlike itself.

That day had taught Mewtwo a harsh lesson. Humans could still hurt it, badly. No longer would it slay them, so instead it must keep out of their way. It could never have imagined that such horrific pain existed before today. Even now, its body ached, and it did its best to hide the exhausted trembling in its limbs from the eyes of the flock, who were all gazing at it with concern and respect.

It turned its head. The three young humans that had defended it stood there, looking around in awe at their strange environment. Ash was one of them. Mewtwo felt its confusion return as it looked at the boy. Could it trust him? For a single, very brief moment, the icy violet eyes softened slightly.

No. It could not afford to trust. Trust brought danger. It was grateful to this human, but it would not relinquish its wariness. It would not take any more risks. It would not trust its saviors, and it would not harm them. What should be done with them?

The choice was its own.


End file.
